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Psalm Seventy-four
Psalm 74
Chapter Contents
The desolations of the sanctuary. (1-11) Pleas for
encouraging faith. (12-17) Petitions for deliverances. (18-23)
Commentary on Psalm 74:1-11
(Read Psalm 74:1-11)
This psalm appears to describe the destruction of
Jerusalem and the temple by the Chaldeans. The deplorable case of the people of
God
at the time
is spread before the Lord
and left with him. They plead the
great things God had done for them. If the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt
was encouragement to hope that he would not cast them off
much more reason
have we to believe
that God will not cast off any whom Christ has redeemed
with his own blood. Infidels and persecutors may silence faithful ministers
and shut up places of worship
and say they will destroy the people of God and
their religion together. For a long time they may prosper in these attempts
and God's oppressed servants may see no prospect of deliverance; but there is a
remnant of believers
the seed of a future harvest
and the despised church has
survived those who once triumphed over her. When the power of enemies is most
threatening
it is comfortable to flee to the power of God by earnest prayer.
Commentary on Psalm 74:12-17
(Read Psalm 74:12-17)
The church silences her own complaints. What God had done
for his people
as their King of old
encouraged them to depend on him. It was
the Lord's doing
none besides could do it. This providence was food to faith
and hope
to support and encourage in difficulties. The God of Israel is the
God of nature. He that is faithful to his covenant about the day and the night
will never cast off those whom he has chosen. We have as much reason to expect
affliction
as to expect night and winter. But we have no more reason to
despair of the return of comfort
than to despair of day and summer. And in the
world above we shall have no more changes.
Commentary on Psalm 74:18-23
(Read Psalm 74:18-23)
The psalmist begs that God would appear for the church
against their enemies. The folly of such as revile his gospel and his servants
will be plain to all. Let us call upon our God to enlighten the dark nations of
the earth; and to rescue his people
that the poor and needy may praise his
name. Blessed Saviour
thou art the same yesterday
to-day
and for ever. Make
thy people more than conquerors. Be thou
Lord
all in all to them in every
situation and circumstances; for then thy poor and needy people will praise thy
name.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 74
Verse 2
[2]
Remember thy congregation
which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine
inheritance
which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion
wherein thou hast
dwelt.
Thy congregation —
Thy people.
Thine inheritance —
The tribe of Judah
which thou hast in a special manner chosen for thine
inheritance
and for the birth of the Messiah. Nor is it strange that he
mentions this tribe particularly
because the calamity here remembered
did
principally befal this tribe
and Benjamin
which was united with it.
Verse 3
[3] Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy
hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
Lift up —
Come speedily to our rescue.
Because —
Because otherwise our destruction is irrecoverable.
Verse 4
[4]
Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns
for signs.
Roar — In
a way of triumph.
Midst
… — In
the places where thy people used to assemble for thy worship.
Set up —
Monuments of their victory.
Verse 5
[5] A
man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.
Famous —
The temple was so noble a structure
that it was a great honour to any man to
be employed in the meanest part of the work
though it were but in cutting down
the trees of Lebanon.
Verse 6
[6] But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and
hammers.
Axes and hammers —
These words are not Hebrew
but Chaldee or Syriack
to point out the time when
this was done
even when the Chaldeans brought in their language
together with
their arms
among the Israelites.
Verse 8
[8] They
said in their hearts
Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the
synagogues of God in the land.
Destroy them —
All at once. So they intended
although afterwards they changed their council
and carried some away captive.
Burnt up —
All the public places wherein the Jews used to meet together to worship God
every sabbath-day.
Verse 9
[9] We
see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any
that knoweth how long.
Signs —
Those tokens of God's gracious presence
which we used to enjoy. The temple and
ark
and sacrifices
and solemn feasts
were signs between God and his people.
Prophet —
Who can foretell things to come. Probably Ezekiel and Jeremiah were dead when
this psalm was composed; and David was involved in civil affairs
and did not
teach the people as a prophet.
Knoweth —
How long their captivity should continue.
Verse 11
[11] Why
withdrawest thou thy hand
even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.
Why —
Why dost thou forebear the exercise of thy power? Bosom - In which thou now
seemest to hide it.
Verse 12
[12] For
God is my King of old
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
King — It
belongs therefore to thy office to protect and save me.
Midst — In
the view of the world.
Verse 13
[13] Thou
didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in
the waters.
Dragons — He
means Pharaoh and his mighty men.
Verse 14
[14] Thou
brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces
and gavest him to be meat to the
people inhabiting the wilderness.
Leviathan —
Pharaoh.
The people — To
the ravenous birds and beasts of the desert. These creatures are significantly
called the people of the wilderness
because they are the only people that
inhabit it.
Verse 15
[15] Thou
didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.
The flood —
Thou didst by cleaving the rock
make a fountain and a stream to flow from it
for the refreshment of thy people in those dry deserts.
Driedst —
Jordan and the Red Sea; for the sea itself; yea
a greater sea than that
is
called a river
Jonah 2:3
where the Hebrew word is the same
which is here used. And the same title is expressly given to the sea
by Homer
and other ancient writers.
Verse 16
[16] The
day is thine
the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the
sun.
The light —
The moon
the lesser light.
Verse 17
[17] Thou
hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
Set —
Thou hast fixed the bounds of the habitable world in general
and of all the
countries and people upon the earth. And as this clause shews God's power over
all places
so the next displays his dominion over all times and seasons.
Verse 18
[18]
Remember this
that the enemy hath reproached
O LORD
and that the foolish
people have blasphemed thy name.
Remember —
Though we deserve to be forgotten
yet do not suffer our enemies to reproach
the name of the great and glorious God.
Verse 19
[19] O
deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget
not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
Soul —
The life.
Turtle-dove — Of
thy church
which is fitly compared to a turtle-dove
because simple and
harmless
and meek
and faithful.
Verse 20
[20] Have
respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the
habitations of cruelty.
The covenant —
Made with Abraham
whereby thou didst give the land of Canaan to him
and to
his seed for ever.
Dark places —
This dark and dismal land in which we live.
Verse 21
[21] O
let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.
Return —
From the throne of thy grace
to which they make their resort.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
TITLE. Maschil of
Asaph. An instructive Psalm by Asaph. The history of the suffering church
is always edifying; when we see how the faithful trusted and wrestled with
their God in times of dire distress
we are thereby taught how to behave
ourselves under similar circumstances; we learn moreover
that when fiery trial
befalls us
no strange thing happened unto us
we are following the trail of
the host of God.
DIVISION. From Ps
74:1-11 the poet pleads the sorrows of the nation
and the despite done to the
assemblies of the Lord; then he urges former displays of divine power as a
reason for present deliverance (Ps 74:12-23). Whether it is a prophetic Psalm
intended for use in troubles foreseen
or whether it was written by a later
Asaph
after the invasion by Sennacherib or during the Maccabean wars
it would
be very hard to determine
but we see no difficulty in the first supposition.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. O God
why hast thou cast us off for ever? To cast us off
at all were hard
but when thou dost for so long a time desert they people it
is an evil beyond all endurance—the very chief of woes and abyss of misery. It
is our wisdom when under chastisement to enquire
"Show me wherefore thou
contendest with me?" and if the affliction be a protracted one
we should
more eagerly enquire the purport of it. Sin is usually at the bottom of all the
hiding of the Lord's face; let us ask the Lord to reveal the special form of it
to us
that we may repent of it
overcome it
and henceforth forsake it. When a
church is in a forsaken condition it must not sit still in apathy
but turn to
the hand which smiteth it
and humbly enquire the reason why. At the same time
the enquiry of the text is a faulty one
for it implies two mistakes. There are
two questions
which only admit of negative replies. "Hath God cast away
his people?" (Ro 11:1); and the other
"Will the Lord cast off for
ever?" (Ps 77:7). God is never weary of his people so as to abhor them
and even when his anger is turned against them
it is but for a small moment
and with a view to their eternal good. Grief in its distraction asks strange
questions and surmises impossible terrors. It is a wonder of grace that the
Lord has not long ago put us away as men lay aside cast off garments
but he
hateth putting away
and will still be patient with his chosen. Why doth thine
anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? They are thine
they are the
objects of thy care
they are poor
silly
and defenceless things: pity them
forgive them
and come to their rescue. They are but sheep
do not continue to
be wroth with them. It is a terrible thing when the anger of God smokes
but it
is an infinite mercy that it does not break into a devouring flame. It is meet
to pray the Lord to remove every sign of his wrath
for it is to those who are
truly the Lord's sheep a most painful thing to be the objects of his
displeasure. To vex the Holy Spirit is no mean sin
and yet how frequently are
we guilty of it; hence it is no marvel that we are often under a cloud.
Verse
2. Remember thy congregation
which thou hast purchased of old.
What a mighty plea is redemption. O God
canst thou see the blood mark on thine
own sheep
and yet allow grievous wolves to devour them? The church is no new
purchase of the Lord; from before the world's foundation the chosen were
regarded as redeemed by the Lamb slain; shall ancient love die out
and the
eternal purpose become frustrate? The Lord would have his people remember the
paschal Lamb
the bloodstained lintel
and the overthrow of Egypt; and will he
forget all this himself? Let us put him in remembrance
let us plead together.
Can he desert his blood bought and forsake his redeemed? Can election fail and
eternal love cease to glow? Impossible. The woes of Calvary
and the covenant
of which they are the seal
are the security of the saints.
The
rod of thine inheritance
which thou hast redeemed. So sweet a plea deserved to
be repeated and enlarged upon. The Lord's portion is his people—will he lose
his inheritance? His church is his kingdom
over which he stretches the rod of
sovereignty; will he allow his possessions to be torn from him? God's property
in us is a fact full of comfort: his value of us
his dominion over us
his
connection with us are all so many lights to cheer our darkness. No man will
willingly lose his inheritance
and no prince will relinquish his dominions;
therefore we believe that the King of kings will hold his own
and maintain his
rights against all comers.
This
mount Zion
wherein thou hast dwelt. The Lord's having made Zion the especial
centre of his worship
and place of his manifestation
is yet another plea for
the preservation of Jerusalem. Shall the sacred temple of Jehovah be desecrated
by heathen
and the throne of the Great King be defiled by his enemies? Has the
Spirit of God dwelt in our hearts
and will he leave them to become a haunt for
the devil? Has he sanctified us by his indwelling
and will he
after all
vacate the throne? God forbid. It may be well to note that this Psalm was
evidently written with a view to the temple upon Zion
and not to the
tabernacle which was there in David's time
and was a mere tent; but the
destructions here bewailed were exercised upon the carved work of a substantial
structure. Those who had seen the glory of God in Solomon's peerless temple
might well mourn in bitterness
when the Lord allowed his enemies to make an
utter ruin of that matchless edifice.
Verse
3. Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations. The ruin
made had already long been an eyesore to the suppliant
and there seemed no
hope of restoration. Havoc lorded it not only for a day or a year
but with
perpetual power. This is another argument with God. Would Jehovah sit still and
see his own land made a wilderness
his own palace a desolation? Until he
should arise
and draw near
the desolation would remain; only his presence
could cure the evil
therefore is he entreated to hasten with uplifted feet for
the deliverance of his people. Even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in
the sanctuary. Every stone in the ruined temple appealed to the Lord; on all
sides were the marks of impious spoilers
the holiest places bore evidence of
their malicious wickedness; would the Lord for ever permit this? Would he not
hasten to overthrow the foe who defied him to his face
and profaned the throne
of his glory? Faith finds pleas in the worst circumstances
she uses even the
fallen stones of her desolate palaces
and assails with them the gates of
heaven
casting them forth with the great engine of prayer.
Verse
4. Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations.
Where thy people sang like angels
these barbarians roar like beasts. When thy
saints come together for worship
these cruel men attack them with all the fury
of lions. They have no respect for the most solemn gatherings
but intrude
themselves and their blasphemies into our most hallowed meetings. How often in
times of persecution or prevalent heresy has the church learned the meaning of
such language. May the Lord spare us such misery. When hypocrites abound in the
church
and pollute her worship
the case is parallel to that before us; Lord
save us from so severe a trial. They set up their ensigns for signs. Idolatrous
emblems used in war were set up over God's altar
as an insulting token of
victory
and of contempt for the vanquished and their God. Papists
Arians
and
the modern school of Neologians
have
in their day
set up their ensigns for
signs. Superstition
unbelief
and carnal wisdom have endeavoured to usurp the
place of Christ crucified
to the grief of the church of God. The enemies
without do us small damage
but those within the church cause her serious harm;
by supplanting the truth and placing error in its stead
they deceive the
people
and lead multitudes to destruction. As a Jew felt a holy horror when he
saw an idolatrous emblem set up in the holy place
even so do we when in a
Protestant church we see the fooleries of Rome
and when from pulpits
once
occupied by men of God
we hear philosophy and vain deceit.
Verse
5. A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the
thick trees. Once men were renowned for felling the cedars and preparing
them for building the temple
but now the axe finds other work
and men are as
proud of destroying as their fathers were of erecting. Thus in the olden times
our sires dealt sturdy blows against the forests of error
and laboured hard to
lay the axe at the root of the trees; but
alas! their sons appear to be quite
as diligent to destroy the truth and to overthrow all that their fathers built
up. O for the good old times again! O for an hour of Luther's hatchet
or
Calvin's mighty axe!
Verse
6. But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with
axes and hammers. The invaders were as industrious to destroy as the
ancient builders had been to construct. Such fair carving it was barbarous to
hew in pieces
but the Vandals had no mercy and broke down all
with any weapon
which came to hand. In these days men are using axes and sledgehammers against
the gospel and the church. Glorious truths
far more exquisite than the
goodliest carving
are cavilled over and smashed by the blows of modern
criticism. Truths which have upheld the afflicted and cheered the dying are
smitten by pretentious Goths
who would be accounted learned
but know not the
first principals of the truth. With sharp ridicule
and heavy blows of
sophistry
they break the faith of some: and would
if it were possible
destroy
the confidence of the elect themselves. Assyrians
Babylonians
and Romans are
but types of spiritual foes who labour to crush the truth and the people of
God.
Verse
7. They have cast fire into thy sanctuary. Axes and hammers
were not sufficient for the purpose of the destroyers
they must needs try
fire. Malice knows no bounds. Those who hate God are never sparing of the most
cruel weapons. To this day the enmity of the human heart is quite as great as
ever; and
if providence did not restrain
the saints would still be as fuel
for the flames. They have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy
name to the ground. They made a heap of the temple
and left not one
stone upon another. When the Lord left Mount Zion
and the Roman gained
entrance
the military fury led the soldiers to burn out and root up the
memorial of the famous House of the Lord. Could the powers of darkness have
their way
a like fate would befall the church of Christ. "Rase it
"say they
"rase it even to the foundation thereof." Defilement
to the church is destruction; her foes would defile her till nothing of her
purity
and consequently of her real self
remained. Yet
even if they could
wreak their will upon the cause of Christ
they are not able to destroy it
it
would survive their blows and fires; the Lord would hold them still like dogs
on a leash
and in the end frustrate all their designs.
Verse
8. They said in their hearts
Let us destroy them together.
It was no idle wish
their cruelty was sincere
deep seated
a matter of their
inmost heart. Extirpation was the desire of Haman
and the aim of many another
tyrant; not a remnant of the people of God would have been left if oppressors
could have had their way. Pharaoh's policy to stamp out the nation has been a
precedent for others
yet the Jews survive
and will: the bush though burning
has not been consumed. Even thus the church of Christ has gone through baptism
of blood and fire
but it is all the brighter for them. They have burned up all
the synagogues of God in the land. Here is no allusion to places called
synagogues
but to assemblies; and as no assemblies for worship here held in
but one place
the ruin of the temple was the destruction of all the holy
gatherings
and so in effect all the meeting places were destroyed. One object
of persecutors has always been to put an end to all conventicles
as they have
called them. Keep them from meeting and you will scatter them
so have the
enemy said; but
glory be to God
saints are independent of walls
and have met
on the hill side
by the moss
or in the catacombs
or in a boat at sea. Yet
has the attempt been almost successful
and the hunt so hot
that the faithful
have wandered in solitude
and their solemn congregations have been
under such
circumstances
few and far between. What sighs and cries have in such times
gone up to the ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth. How happy are we that we can
meet for worship in any place we choose
and none dare molest us.
Verse
9. We see not our signs. Alas
poor Israel! No Urim and
Thummim blazed on the High Priest's bosom
and no Shechaniah shone from between
the cherubim. The smoke of sacrifice and cloud of incense no more arose from
the holy hill; solemn feasts were suspended
and even circumcision
the
covenant sign
was forbidden by the tyrant. We
too
as believers
know what it
is to lose our evidences and grope in darkness; and too often do our churches
also miss the tokens of the Redeemer's presence
and their lamps remain
untrimmed. Sad complaint of a people under a cloud! There is no more any
prophet. Prophecy was suspended. No inspiring psalm or consoling promise fell
from bard or seer. It is ill with the people of God when the voice of the
preacher of the gospel fails
and a famine of the word of life falls on the people.
God sent ministers are as needful to the saints as their daily bread
and it is
a great sorrow when a congregation is destitute of a faithful pastor. It is to
be feared
that with all the ministers now existing
there is yet a dearth of
men whose hearts and tongues are touched with the celestial fire. Neither is
there any among us that knoweth how long. If someone could foretell an end
the
evil might be borne with a degree of patience
but when none can see a
termination
or foretell an escape
the misery has a hopeless appearance
and
is overwhelming. Blessed be God
he has not left his church in these days to be
so deplorably destitute of cheering words; let us pray that he never may.
Contempt of the word is very common
and may well provoke the Lord to withdraw
it from us; may his long suffering endure the strain
and his mercy afford us
still the word of life.
Verse
10. O God
how long shall the adversary reproach? Though we
know not how long yet thou dost. The times and seasons are with thee. When God
is reproached
there is hope for us
for it may be he will hearken and avenge
his dishonoured name. Wickedness has great license allowed it
and justice
lingers on the road; God has his reasons for delay
and his seasons for action
and in the end it shall be seen that he is not slack concerning his promise as
some men count slackness. Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? He will
do so for ever
unless thou dost give him his quietus. Wilt thou never defend
thyself
and stop slanderous tongues? Wilt thou always endure the jeers of the
profane? Is there to be no end to all this sacrilege and cursing? Yes
it shall
all be ended
but not by and by. There is a time for the sinner to rage
and a
time in which patience bears with him; yet it is but a time
and then
ah
then!
Verse
11. Why withdrawest thou thy hand
even thy right hand?
Wherefore this inaction
this indifference for thine own honour and thy
people's safety? How bold is the suppliant! Does he err? Nay
verily
we who
are so chill
and distant
and listless in prayer are the erring ones. The
kingdom of heaven suffereth violence
and he who learns the art shall surely
prevail with God by its means. It is fit that we should enquire why the work of
grace goes on so slowly
and the enemy has so much power over men: the inquiry
may suggest practical reflections of unbounded value.
"Why
dost thou from the conflict stay?
Why do thy chariot wheels delay?
Lift up thyself
hell's kingdom shake
Arm of the Lord
awake
awake."
Pluck
it out of thy bosom. A bold simile
but dying men must venture for their lives.
When God seems to fold his arms we must not fold ours
but rather renew our
entreaties that he would again put his hand to the work. O for more agony in
prayer among professing Christians
then should we see miracles of grace. We
have here before us a model of pleading
a very rapture of prayer. It is
humble
but very bold
eager
fervent
and effectual. The heart of God is
always moved by such entreaties. When we bring forth out strong reasons
then
will he bring forth his choice mercies.
Verses
12-23. Having spread the sad case before the Lord
the pleader now urges
another series of arguments for divine help. He reasons from the Lord's former
wonders of grace
and his deeds of power
imploring a repetition of the same
divine works.
Verse
12. For God is my King of old. How consoling is this avowal!
Israel in holy loyalty acknowledges her King
and claims to have been his
possession from of old
and thence she derives a plea for defence and deliverance.
If the Lord be indeed the sole monarch of our bosoms
he will in his love put
forth his strength on our behalf; if from eternity he has claimed us as his
own
he will preserve us from the insulting foe. Working salvation in the midst
of the earth. From the most remote period of Israel's history the Lord had
worked out for her many salvations; especially at the Red Sea
the very heart
of the world was astonished by his wonders of deliverance. Now
every believer
may plead at this day the ancient deeds of the Lord
the work of Calvary
the
overthrow of sin
death
and hell. He who wrought out our salvation of old will
not
cannot desert us now. Each past miracle of grace assures us that he who
has begun to deliver will continue to redeem us from all evil. His deeds of old
were public and wrought in the teeth of his foes
they were no delusions or
make believes; and
therefore
in all our perils we look for true and manifest
assistance
and we shall surely receive it.
Verse
21. O let not the oppressed return ashamed. Though broken and
crushed they come to thee with confidence; suffer them not to be disappointed
for then they will be ashamed of their hope. Let the poor and needy praise thy
name. By thy speedy answer to their cries make their hearts glad
and they will
render to thee their gladdest songs. It is not the way of the Lord to allow any
of those who trust in him to be put to shame; for his word is
"He shall
call upon me
and I will deliver him
and he shall glorify me."
Verse
22. Arise
O God
plead thine own cause. Answer thou the
taunts of the profane by arguments which shall annihilate both the blasphemy
and the blasphemer. God's judgments are awful replies to the defiance of his
foes. When he makes empires crumble
and smites persecutors to the heart
his
cause is pleaded by himself as none other could have advocated it. O that the
Lord himself would come into the battle field. Long has the fight been
trembling in the balance; one glance of his eyes
one word from his lip
and
the banners of victory shall be borne on the breeze. Remember how the foolish
man reproacheth thee daily. The Lord is begged to remember that he is himself
reproached
and that by a mere man—that man a fool
and he is also reminded
that these foul reproaches are incessant and repeated with every revolving day.
It is bravely done when faith can pluck pleas out of the dragon's mouth and out
of the blasphemies of fools find arguments with God.
Verse
23. Forget not the voice of thine enemies. Great warrior let
the enemy's taunt provoke thee to the fray. They challenge thee; accept thou
the gage of battle
and smite them with thy terrible hand. If the cries of thy
children are too feeble to be heard
be pleased to note the loud voices of thy
foes and silence their profanities for ever. The tumult of those that rise up
against thee increaseth continually. The ungodly clamour against thee
and thy people
their blasphemies are loud and incessant
they defy thee
even
thee
and because thou repliest not they laugh thee to scorn. They go from bad
to worse
from worse to worst; their fury swells like the thunders of an
advancing tempest. What will it come too? What infamy will next be hurled at
thee and thine? O God
wilt thou for ever bear this? Hast thou no regard for
thine honour
no respect for thy glory? Much of this Psalm has passed over our
mind while beholding the idolatries of Rome
(the author visited Rome in
November and December
1871
while this portion of the Treasury of David was in
progress) and remembering her bloody persecution of the saints. O Lord
how
long shall it be ere thou wilt ease thyself of those profane wretches
the
priests
and cast the harlot of Babylon into the ditch of corruption? May the
church never cease to plead with thee till judgment shall be executed
and the
Lord avenged upon Antichrist.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. There is one singularity in this Psalm which reminds one strongly
of Psalm 44: there is not one mention of national or personal sin throughout
no allusion to the Lord's righteous dealing in their punishment
no
supplication for pardon and forgiveness; and yet one can hardly doubt that the
writer of the Psalm
be he who he may
must have felt as keenly as Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Daniel
or any other prophet of the captivity
the sins and iniquities
which had brought all this sore evil upon them. But still
though there be
expostulations
there is no complaint; though there be mourning
there is no
murmuring; there is far more the cry of a smitten child
wondering why
and
grieving that his father's face is so turned away from him in displeasure
and
a father's hand so heavy on the child of his love. Or
as we might almost say
it is like the cry of one of those martyred ones beneath the altar
wondering
at the marauder and oppressor
and exclaiming
"How long
O Lord
how
long?" And yet it is the appeal of one who was still a sufferer
still
groaning under the pressure of his calamities
"Why has thou cast us off
for ever? We see not our signs
there is no more any prophet
among us." Barton Bouchier.
Whole
Psalm. The peculiarity of this Psalm is marred by the very frequent use
of the xeg
for ever: Ps 74:1
3
10. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse
1. This Psalm
and particularly these words
do contain the church's
sad lamentation over her deep affliction
together with her earnest
expostulations with God about the cause. Two things there are that the church
in these words doth plead with God. First
The greatness of her affliction:
secondly
the nearness of he relation.
1. The
greatness of her affliction. And there were three things in her affliction
that did make it lie very heavy upon her. First
the root of this
affliction; and that was God's anger: Why doth thine anger smoke
etc.
Secondly
the height of this affliction; God was not only angry
but he
did smoke in his anger. Thirdly
the length of this affliction:
it was so long that God did seem to cast them off for ever.
2. The
nearness of her relation: Against the sheep of thy pasture; as if they
should have said
Lord
if thou hadst done this against thine enemies
it had
been no wonder; if thou hadst poured out thy wrath against the vessels of
wrath
it had not been so much. But what! wilt thou draw out thy sword against the
sheep of thy pasture? It were no wonder that thou shouldest take the fat
and the strong
and pour out thy judgments upon them; but wilt thou do it to thy
sheep?
There
be several doctrines that I may raise from these words; as
First
doctrine: That God's people are his sheep.
Second
doctrine: That God may be sorely angry with his own people
with his own sheep.
Third
doctrine: That when God is angry with his people
it becomes them carefully to
enquire into the cause.
Fourth
doctrine: That when God's people are under afflictions
they ought to take
notice of
and be much affected with
his anger
from which they do proceed.
Fifth
doctrine: That God's people under affliction are
or should be
more affected
with his anger than with their smart. This is that which the church doth
complain of
not that the church did so smart
but that God was displeased and
angry; that did most affect them.
Sixth
doctrine: That God's people are apt to have misgiving thoughts of God when they
are in sore afflictions. God was angry with his people
and their hearts did
misgive them
as if God did cast off his people.
Seventh
doctrine: That God may be angry with his people
so sore
and so long
that in
the judgment of sense it may seem that they are for ever cast off. Eighth
doctrine: That though the people of God may not murmur against his proceedings
yet they may humbly expostulate with him about the cause. Joseph Alleine.
1633-1668.
Verse
1. Why doth thine anger smoke
etc. Anger is a fire; and in
men
and other creatures enraged
a smoke seemeth to go out of their nostrils.
Xenophon saith of the Thebans
when they are angry they breathe fire. This then
is spoken of God
after the manner of men. John Trapp.
Verse
1. The sheep of thy pasture. There is nothing more imbecile
than a sheep: simple
frugal
gentle
tame
patient
prolific
timid
domesticated
stupid
useful. Therefore
while the name of sheep is here
used
it is suggested how pressing the necessity is for divine assistance
and
how well befitting the Most High it would be to make their cause his own. Lorinus.
Verse
2. Remember thy congregation. It is not without reason that
they do not say
Remember us
but Remember thy congregation
not
ours
but thine; nor that because it has now begun to be thine
but which
thou hast purchased of old
the rod of thine inheritance which thou hast
redeemed: likewise
this Mount Zion; not wherein we
but wherein thou
hast dwelt. They had nothing which they could bring before an angry God
with greater confidence
than the ancient lovingkindness shown to their fathers
in former days. Musculus.
Verse
2. The rod of thine inheritance. hlxg jbv
the inheritance
rod is the staff with which the inheritance is measured; jkv hdmh hgq
the
land surveyor's rod (Eze 40:3); and this is used as lrwg
the lot
is
for the portion
for the inheritance itself. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse
2. Thine inheritance. It signifies a nation
which through
all successions God had a peculiar right and title to. Henry Hammond.
Verse
2. Thou hast redeemed
i.e.
the purchased people
by
restoring them when they had been alienated
and had fallen into the hands of
others: like a goel
or near kinsman
who ransoms a brother hurried into
captivity
and regains an inheritance that has been sold. Hermann
Venema.
Verse
3. Lift up thy feet. Or
thy hammers
that is
"thy strokes
"to "stamp" or "beat down" the
enemy "unto perpetual desolations." Thus the "feet" are
used to "tread down with
" Isa 26:6; and so the Greek taketh it
here
changing the metaphor
and translating it
"Thy hands
"which
are also instruments to strike down with. Or
lift up thy feet
that is
come quickly to see the perpetual desolations
which the enemy hath
made. Henry Ainsworth.
Verse
3. Lift up thy feet. Abu Walid renders it
Tread hard upon
thine enemies. The Jewish Arab
Shew forth thy punishment
adding in
a note that the lifting up the feet implies punishment
the bringing
under by force being usually expressed by treading under the feet. Henry
Hammond.
Verse
3. Lift up thy feet
etc. To these desolations they
seek that God would lift up his footsteps
that is
that he would
approach. In Ge 29:1
there occurs the phrase
to lift the feet; here
the expression is much more marked—to lift up the footsteps—and must be
taken to mean a swift
impetuous
majestic
and powerful approach; like a hero
who strikes the ground with heavy tread
and advances rapidly with far sounding
footsteps. Hermann Venema.
Verse
3. In the sanctuary. Their cities had been laid waste
their
provinces
their farms
their vineyards
their oliveyards. They themselves had
been everywhere cut down without striking a blow in defence
and their means of
life had been snatched away without resistance. Yet they speak not of these
things; not because things of this sort ought not to cause grief
nor yet
because the saints are not touched with a sense of their loss; but because
those things which threatened the extinction of religion and the worship of
God
overtopped the feeling of all these other misfortunes with an intolerable
sorrow. Musculus.
Verse
4. Thine enemies roar
etc. The word gav is used especially
of the roar of the lion... In this place we may justly extend the application
of the verb to those noisy words
whether mirthful or boastful
blasphemous
against God and calamitous to his people (Ps 74:10)
breathing terror and
threatenings through edicts; or rude and senseless
as in their idolatrous
worship; or in their prayers and thoughtless songs. As in Isa 52:5
its meaning
is to howl. Hermann Venema.
Verse
4. They set up their ensigns for signs. The meaning is
that
the enemy
having abolished the signs of the true God
of his people and
religion
such as circumcision
the feasts
sacrifices
the other ordinances of
religion
and other marks of liberty
substituted his own idolatrous signs
as
the signs of his authority and religion. Hermann Venema.
Verses
4-7. (The persecution under Antiochus. B.C. 168.) Athenaeus
proceeded to Jerusalem
where
with the assistance of the garrison
he
prohibited and suppressed every observance of the Jewish religion
forced the
people to profane the Sabbath
to eat swine's flesh
and other unclean food
and expressly forbade the national rite of circumcision. The Temple was
dedicated to Jupiter Olympus: the statue of that deity was erected on part of
the altar of burnt offerings
and sacrifice duly performed... As a last insult
the feasts of the Bacchanalia
the license of which
as they were celebrated in
the later ages of Greece
shocked the severe virtue of the older Romans
were
substituted for the national festival of Tabernacles. The reluctant Jews were
forced to join in these riotous orgies
and to carry the ivy
the insignia of
the god. So near was the Jewish nation
and the worship of Jehovah
to total
extermination. Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868)
in "A History of the
Jews."
(Under
Titus.) And now the Romans
upon the flight of the seditious into the city
and upon the burning of the holy house itself
and of all the buildings lying
round about it
brought their ensigns to the temple
and set them over against
its eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to them
and there did
they make Titus imperator
with the greatest acclamation of joy. Josephus.
Verse
8. The synagogues of God. It is the opinion of Spencer
Vitringa
and of the learned in general
that the institution of synagogues for
worship originated in the reading of the law publicly after the collection of
its volumes by Ezra
and that
consequently
there were no such places of
solemn assembly previous to the Babylonish captivity. Some of the Jews
themselves have expressed a conviction that this is the fact
and the
Scriptures give no intimation of their existence antecedently to that time. We
are aware
however
that one of the first Hebraists of the present day
the
Rev. Dr. Macaul
inclines to the opinion of an earlier origin than that
generally adopted. We quote his words: "The existence of such places
before the Babylonish captivity has been much disputed"; and most writers
arguing from the silence of the Old Testament
incline to the opinion that they
originated in Babylon
and that after the restoration similar oratories were
opened in the land of Israel; and hence some infer that the Seventy-fourth
Psalm
which says in the eighth verse
They have burned up all the
synagogues in the land
was written in the post Babylonian times. The
argument from silence is
however
far from conclusive. The translation of
yrewm as synagogues
in the verse just cited
might fairly lead to a
similar translation in some other passages which were confessedly written
before the captivity; and the circumstances
character
and necessities of the
Israelites
the great body of whom were far removed from the temple
prove
indisputably that in their towns and villages they must have had some locality
where they assembled on their sabbaths
new moons
and other solemn days
for
the purpose of receiving instruction in the law
and for public prayer. That
locality
however different from subsequent arrangements
was the origin of the
synagogue. How such assemblies were conducted before the captivity it is
now impossible to say. F. A. Cox.
Verse
8. Synagogues. Dr. Prideaux affirms that they had no
synagogues before the Babylonish captivity; for the main service of the
synagogue
says he
being the reading of the law unto the people
where there
was no book of the law to be read
there certainly could be no synagogues. But
how rare the book of the law was through all Judaea
before the Babylonish
captivity
many texts of Scripture tell us. When Jehoshaphat sent teachers through
all Judaea
to instruct the people in the law of God
they carried a book of
the law with them (2Ch 17:9)
which they needed not have done if there had been
any copies of the law in those cities to which they went; which certainly there
would have been had there been any synagogues in them. And when Hilkiah found
the law in the temple (2Ki 22:8)
neither he nor king Josiah needed to have
been so surprised at it
had books of the law been common on those times. Their
behaviour on that occasion sufficiently proves they had never seen it before
which could not be the case had there then been any other copies of it to be
found among the people; and if there were no copies of the law at that time
among them
there could then be most certainly no synagogues for them to
resort to for the hearing of it read unto them. From whence he concludes there
could be no synagogues among the Jews
till after the Babylonish
captivity. Cruden's Concordance.
Verse
8. Synagogues. The assertion of those who are in favour of the
Maccabean origin of the Psalm
that these words describe the destruction of the
synagogues
is met by the remark
that in all the copious accounts which
we have of the transactions of these times
there is nothing said of any such
work of destruction. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse
8. Synagogues. In the Old Testament we find no traces of
meetings for worship in synagogues. Temporary altars
groves
and high places
were used alike by the Jewish saints and sinners for the worship of God and
idols. The only pre-exile instance which seems to indicate that the devout in
Israel were in the habit of resorting to pious leaders for blessings and
instruction on stated occasions
is to be found in 2Ki 4:23
where the
Shunammite's husband asks
"Wherefore wilt thou go to him (Elisha) today?
It is neither new moon nor Sabbath." Yet 2Ki 22:8
etc.; 2Ch 34:14
etc.
testify undoubtedly against the existence of places of worship under the
monarchy. It is during the exile
whilst the temple worship was in abeyance
that we find indubitable proof of the systematic meetings on fasts for devotion
and instruction (Zec 7:3-5 8:19). Religious meetings were also held on Sabbaths
and fasts
to instruct the exiles in the divine law
and to admonish them to
obey the divine precepts
(Ezr 10:1-9 Ne 8:1-3 9:1-3 13:1-3). These meetings
held near the temple and in other localities
were the origin of the synagogue
and the place in which the people assembled was denominated the house of
assembly. Hence
also
the synagogue in the temple itself... These
synagogues soon became very popular
so that the psalmist in depicting worship
in the time of the Maccabees declares that the many meeting places of God—or the
Synagogues of God as the A.V. rightly renders it—have been laid waste. Christian
D. Ginsburg
in Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature.
Verse
8. (second clause). The sense seems to be
they (the
Chaldaean invaders) have abolished all the solemnities in the land. They
have taken away the daily sacrifice; they have put an end to the festivals and
feasts of our holy ritual. Compare La 2:6: "He hath violently taken away
his tabernacle; he hath destroyed his places of the assembly
"(or rather
his assembly
his moed). "The Lord hath caused the solemn feasts
and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion." Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse
9. We see not our signs. As if they had said
heretofore God
was wont to give us signs and tokens
he would even work miracles for us
or he
would send a prophet to instruct and advise us what to do; we had those who
could tell us how long
that is
how long our troubles should last
and
when we should have our expected end of them; but now we are in trouble
and no
man can tell us how long
now we are left to the wide world
to shift for
ourselves as well as we can; the Lord will not advise us what to do
nor give
us his mind what's best to be done
or how to proceed; thus deplorable was
their condition upon the hiding of God's face from them. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
9. We see not our signs. These signs
which he mourned that
he did not see
were certain outward marks of God's special favour
certain
testimonies of his presence
certain memorials that he was with them to bless
them. And it is said that there were five things in Solomon's temple destroyed
by Nebuchadnezzar
which were not in the second temple
which was erected after
the Babylonish captivity. Five memorials or tokens of God's special presence
were then wanting. One was the ark of the covenant; another
the fire from
heaven upon the brazen altar; the third
the Shechaniah
or cloud that rested
upon the mercyseat; the fourth
the Urim and Thummim which were in the
breastplate of the high priest; and the fifth
the spirit of prophecy. For
though there were the prophets
Haggai
Zechariah
and Malachi
at the time of
and shortly after
the restoration; yet the spirit of prophecy ceased with
Malachi
and did not reappear until John the Baptist
the forerunner of the
Lord Jesus... The lamentation of the church here
then
was
that she saw not
her signs. So now
the church of the living God
the regenerate family of Zion
have often reason to pour out the same melancholy complaint. Signs of God's
favour
marks and testimonies of his work of grace upon their souls
are often
so out of sight
so buried in obscurity
so enveloped in clouds of darkness
that the living family are compelled
from soul feeling
to take up the
language of lamentation here expressed
and say
We see not our signs. J. C.
Philpot. 1802-1869.
Verse
9. Our signs. The ordinary signs of Israel being God's
peculiar people are the passover (Ex 12:13)
the Sabbath (Ex 21:13)
the
temple
the altar
the sacrifices; the extraordinary ones are God's miracles
wrought in his people's behalf (Ps 78:43). A. R. Fausset.
Verse
9. There is no more any prophet. By us it ought to be
observed what they do not say: It is not
—here is no more any giant or warlike
leader who may deliver us from the adversary: but
there is no more any
prophet. And yet when the prophets were with them
they were contemptible in
the eyes of all
maltreated by the wicked and put to death. Musculus.
Verse
10. Shall the enemy blaspheme the name for ever? The sinner
never leaves his sin till sin first leaves him: did not death put a stop to his
sin
he would never cease from sin. This may be illustrated by a similitude
thus: A company of gamesters resolve to play all night
and accordingly they
sit down to chess tables
or some other game; their candle
accidentally or
unexpectedly
goes out
or is put out
or burnt out; their candle being out
they
are forced to give over their game
and go to bed in the dark; but had the
candle lasted all night
they would have played all night. This is every
sinner's case in regard of sin: did not death put out the candle of life
the
sinner would sin still. Should the sinner live for ever
he would sin for ever;
and
therefore
it is a righteous thing with God to punish him for ever in
hellish torments. Every impenitent sinner would sin to the days of eternity
if
he might live to the days of eternity. O God
how long shall the adversary
reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? For ever
and
evermore; or for ever and yet—for so the Hebrew loves to exaggerate: as if the
sinner
the blasphemer
would set a term of duration longer than eternity to
sin in. The psalmist implicitly saith
Lord
if thou dost but let them alone
for ever
they will certainly blaspheme thy name for ever and ever. I have read
of the crocodile
that he knows no maximum quod sic
he is always
growing bigger and bigger
and never comes to a certain pitch of monstrosity so
long as he lives. Quamdiu vivit crescit. Every habituated sinner would
if he were let alone
be such a monster
perpetually growing worse and worse. Thomas
Brooks.
Verse
12. God is my King of old
etc. Let us learn from this verse
how to think of our God. First
that he is our King
and therefore we ought to
be encouraged to pray for his help against the ungodly
and to place ourselves
in entire submission to his will and government. Secondly
that he is not a new
God
but the Ancient of Days
and that whatever salvation has been wrought not
only in the midst of his own people
but in the midst of the whole earth
even
among those by whom he is not acknowledged
has been wrought by him. Let this
meaning strike at the root of all trust in other gods
or in any creature. Musculus.
Verse
13. Thou didst divide the sea. Thou
O Lord
didst make firm
the flowing sea
that there might be a way for our fathers to pass over
and in
those very waters through which thou didst lead thy ransomed
thou didst
utterly overthrow the hosts of Egypt
who were like dragons for ferocity
as
they sought to devour thy people. Jansenius.
Verse
14. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan
etc. It is spoken of
Pharaoh's army which God destroyed in the Red Sea; that is
the destruction of
the Egyptians was a pledge of the accomplishment of God's promise to cast the
Canaanite out of the promised land
and to give them possession of it. Many
hardships they were to pass through in the wilderness
but God gave them this
mercy as food
not to their bodies
but food to their faith
while they were in
the wilderness: therefore
those former great and glorious promises were
accomplished. So that former mercies are food that God gives unto the faith of his
people to feed upon
till he hath perfectly accomplished whatever he hath
promised unto his church. William Strong.
Verse
14. Leviathan. The Arabic Lexicographers (quoted by Bochart)
affirm that Pharao
in the Egyptian language
signified a crocodile. Parkhurst
remarks that in Schenchzer's Physica Sacra may be seen a medal with Julius
Caesar's head on one side
and on the reverse a crocodile with this
inscription: AGYPTO CAPTA
Egypt taken. M. Mariette has discovered at
Karnak a monumental stele of Thothmes on which the king says of himself
"Fierce
as the huge crocodile
I made them see the glory of my God;
Terrible Lord of the waters
none dare even approach him."
Verse
14. Leviathan is a name given not only to the crocodile
but
to the whale and other large fishes. The Zum
or people inhabiting the
wilderness
are supposed
by many sensible writers
to be the Ichthyophagy
or
fish eaters
who occupied
according to ancient authors
a part of the coast of
the Red Sea. The psalmist is here speaking of Israel's passage through its
waters; and it is a singular fact that Diodorus
who lived about two thousand
years ago
mentions a tradition
prevalent amongst these very persons
to the
effect that in the time of their remote forefathers an extraordinary reflux
took place
the channel of the gulf becoming dry
and the green bottom
appearing
whilst the whole body of waters rolled away in an opposite
direction. There can be little doubt that this strange people would have used
for food
and various purposes
such great fish as might have been cast ashore
on the termination of the miracle. Most writers give this text a figurative
meaning
but that is no reason why it may not be also literally understood; for
such a mode of speaking is common in the Bible. But whether we understand it
one way or the other
we have the testimony of heathens to its propriety and
force. If
by the term Leviathan
we believe Egypt to be intended
and
by its heads those petty states into which that country was divided
the
traditions of India
and the East
inform us that such designations were well
understood
and therefore beautifully applicable. Anon.
in "Biblical
and Theological Gleanings"; by William O'Neill. 1854.
Verse
14. Meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness. May not the
exact meaning be that even as the sea monsters washed upon the shore furnished
food for the inhabitants of the Red Sea
even so the symbolic dragon power of
Egypt when destroyed at the Red Sea
became food for Israel's faith
and even
furnished provision for their wilderness journey by the spoil which was cast up
by the tide. C. H. S.
Verse
15. Flood. God in dividing Jordan did not only divide the
water that ordinarily belonged to the river
or the water which came from its
fountains
but also the extraordinary additional waters by the great rains a
little before harvest. So God cleaved both the fountain
i.e.
the fountain water
and the flood. Jonathan Edwards.
Verse
16. The day is thine
the night also is thine.
Ah!
do not be sorrowful
darling
And do not be sorrowful
pray—
Taking the year together
my dear
There is not more night than day.
And
God is God
my darling
Of night as well as day;
And we feel and know that we can go
Wherever he leads the way.
A
God of the night
my darling
Of the night of death so grim
The gate that leads out of life
good wife
Is the gate that leads to Him.
From
"In the Sere and Yellow Leaf
"in "The Circling Year."
Verse
16. Day. Night. These changes are according to a fixed law.
Day and night are the ordinances of heaven upon earth for the growth of earth's
life
and
if we could trace the sunshine and the dark in every follower of
God
we should see them arranged with equal wisdom. It is a more complex work
but
be sure of this
there is order in it all
and the hand that rules the
world in its orbit
and that makes it fulfil its course through light and
shade
is governing our lives for a higher than earthly end. One feature of the
law is presented so far for our guidance. It is a law of alternation. It
is day and night
and
let us thank God
it is also in due time night and day.
Each has its time and use. John Ker. 1869.
Verse
16. Thou hast prepared the light. It is but recently that we
have been able to form any conception of the power of light as an agent in the
economy of the globe; the discoveries of Actinism are among the most
interesting and marvellous of natural science. The discovery that "no
substance can be exposed to the sun's rays without undergoing a chemical
change
"has been described as scarcely less important in its effects than
the discovery of the law of gravitation. A sunbeam is one of the most powerful
of all the agencies of nature; magical as it is
it breaks up the strongest
chemical affinities; it is the author of colour
and it is the creator of a
myriad combinations
which all tend to the harmony of the world. Nor ought we
to forget the moral influence of light. We are all aware of the sensible
difference produced in our moral natures by a fine day or a dark day. Light
gives zest and tone to the spirits; light gives buoyancy and joy to the soul;
light crowds the chambers of the mind with ideas; Light is Life: the
merest insect could not live without light; and even blind natures receive
in
those organs which are not the property of vision
the assurance of its
benignant operations. Light is Order: and at its wand and command the
separation takes place
and dark and light pair off into their separate ranks.
Light is Beauty: whether in the refulgence of the moon; the chill
sparkle of the stars; the unrivalled play of colours in the attenuated film of
the soap bubble
at once the toy of childhood and the tool of the sage; the
rich play of tints in the mother of pearl
or the rich gorgeous rays in the
plumes of birds. Light is Purity: forms that rankle out of the glance of
its clear
steady beam
contract around themselves loathness and disgust
and
become the seats of foulness and shame. Light is Growth: where it is
we
know that nature pursues her work in life and in vigour; light gives vitality
to the sap; light removes obstructions from the pathway of the growing
agencies
while
in its absence
forms become stunted
gnarled
and impaired.
Light is Health: as it darts its clear and brilliant points to and fro
it brings in its train those blessings of elasticity and energy
which give the
fulness of being—which is perfect health to the expanding forms. There is a
fine consistency
when Scripture makes light to contain
as it were
the seeds
of all things
and when the prelude of all creation is made to be those words
"God said
Let there be light." This
then
is the part light is made
to play in the history of the world; it is used by moral power to become the
creator of moral influence. What a long series of creations elapsed before moral
causes seemed to operate in the affairs of the globe! But he
whose nature and
whose names are Light
had given to light its distinct being and work; and that
creative word
"Let there be light
"spoke right forwards to
the moral energies which were to be superinduced by its creation. Thus light
it is true
went before all things
and became the cause of moral consequences;
but then
this arose from the divine hand
whence darted its benevolent beams. It
was God who gave it its divine commission
to divine between light and
darkness; it was God who made it the fountain of knowledge and of day; it
was God who gave to it the faculty to become
in turn
a creator
and to
warm into life and beauty a myriad seeds and shape of loveliness. E. Paxton
Hood.
Verse
16. The light and the sun. I was considerably affected in my
younger days by the long standing objection
that Moses made light to
exist before the creation of the sun; as books then usually taught
what some
still fancy
that there could not have been light without this luminary. But
not choosing
on such important point
to attach my faith to any general
assertion
I sought to find out if any investigator of the nature of light had
perceived any distinction in its qualities or operation
which made it a fluid
or matter independent of the sun. It was not easy
before the year 1791
to
meet with the works of any student of nature on such a subject
as it had been
little attended to; but I at length saw the fact asserted by Henckel
a German
of the old school
of some value in his day
and soon afterwards some
experiments were announced in England which confirmed the supposition. It has
been a favourite point of attention with me ever since; and no truth in
philosophy seems to be now more clearly ascertained than that light has a
distinct existence
separate and independent of the sun. This is a striking
confirmation of the Mosaic record; for that expressly distinguishes the
existence and operation of light from the solar action upon it
and from that
radiation of it which is connected with his beams and presence. By Moses
an
interval of three days is placed between the luminous creation
and the
appearance and position of the sun and moon. Light was
therefore
operating by
its own laws and agencies
without the sun
and independently of his peculiar
agency
from the first day to the fourth of our terrestrial fabrication. But
from the time that the sun was placed in his central position
and his rays
were appointed to act on our earth
they have been always performing most
beneficial operations
essential to the general course of things. Sharon
Turner (1768-1847)
in "The Sacred History of the World."
Verse
17. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth. The actual
distribution of sea and land over the surface of the globe is likewise of the
highest importance to the present condition of organic life. If the ocean were
considerably smaller
or if Asia and America were concentrated within the
tropics
the tides
the oceanic currents
and the meteorological phenomenon on
which the existence of the vegetable and animal kingdoms depend
would be so
profoundly modified
that it is extremely doubtful whether man could have
existed
and absolutely certain that he could never have risen to a high degree
of civilisation. The dependence of human progress upon the existing
configuration of the globe necessarily leads us to the conclusion that both
must be the harmonious work of the same Almighty Power
and that a divine and
immutable plan has from all eternity presided over the destinies of our planet.
It is almost superfluous to point out how largely the irregular windings and
undulations of the coasts
the numerous islands scattered over the face of the
waters
the promontories stretching far away into the domains of the sea
and
the gulfs plunging deeply into the bosom of the land
have contributed to the
civilisation of the human race by multiplying its points of contact with the
ocean
the great highway of nations. G. Hartwig
in "The Harmonies of
Nature." 1866.
Verse
17. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth. Consider the
form of the earth. It is known to be globular
and in shape nearly like an
orange. And why has God chosen that form? With a view that it might be
inhabited by living creatures on its whole surface. In order to this
every
part of the globe must have sufficient light and heat
the wind must have a
free circulation
and the water must be diffused over all its parts. The
rotundity of the earth is best calculated to promote these conveniences: for this
round form admits light and heat
without which there could be no life all over
the globe. The revolutions of day and night
the changes in the temperature of
the air
heat
cold
dryness or moisture
could not have taken place without
this form. Had the earth been square
had it been conic
had it been an
hexagon
or any other angular form
what must the consequence have been? The
greatest part of our earth would have been drowned
whilst the rest
would have
languished with drought. Some countries must have been torn in pieces by
storms
while others would have been deprived of the wholesome circulation of
wind. I have new reason to admire the supreme wisdom
when I reflect on the
enormous mass which composes our world. Were the earth softer
or more spongy
than it is
men and animals would sink into it; were it harder and less
penetrable
it would resist the toil of the labourer
and lose its capacity for
producing and nourishing the multitude of plants
herbs
roots
and flowers
which now spring out of its bosom. There are regular and distinct strata found
in the earth; some of stone
others of metal and minerals. There are numerous
and evident advantages which result from these in favour of mankind. Do not the
strata of gravel
sunk deep in the earth
purify and in a manner filter the
water and render it sweet and fit for use? On the surface of the earth there is
a varied prospect; there is an admirable mixture of plains and valleys
of
small hills and mountains. The man must be blind indeed that does not see the
wise purpose of the Great Author of nature
in thus diversifying the surface of
the earth. Were the earth an even plain
how much beauty would it lose?
Besides
this variety of valley and mountain is very favourable to the health
of living creatures
and were there no hills
the earth would be less peopled
with men and animals. There would be fewer plants
fewer simples and trees. We
should be deprived of metals and minerals: the vapours would not be condensed
nor should we have either springs or rivers. Must we not then acknowledge that
the whole plan of the earth
its form
its inward and outward construction
are
all regulated according to the wise laws
which all combine towards the
pleasure and happiness of mankind? O thou supreme Author of nature
thou hast
done all things well! Whichever way I turn my eyes
whether I penetrate into
the interior structure of the globe thou hast appointed me to inhabit
or
whether I examine its surface
I everywhere discover marks of profound wisdom
and infinite goodness. Christopher Christian Sturm.
Verse
17. Thou hast made summer and winter. Plasmasti ea. Now thou
hast done all this and more for mankind in general
wilt thou be wanting to thy
church? John Trapp.
Verse
17. Winter. As if fatigued with so many cares
nature now
rests; this
however
is only to collect new force
again to be employed for
the good of the world. But even this rest
which nature enjoys in winter
is a
secret activity. A new creation is preparing in silence. The necessary dispositions
are already making
that the desolate earth may again recover the children she
has lost. The corn which is to serve us for food
already shoots. The fibres of
plants
which are to adorn our fields and gardens
begin insensibly to open. O
my beneficent Creator! Here I find fresh cause to adore thy wisdom and power.
The repose which nature takes it as worthy to enter into the plan of thy wise
providence
as the activity she shows in spring and summer. Thou hast wisely
combined the several revolutions of the earth
thou hast equally divided its
rest and labour. It is thy will that each day should vary the scenes of nature
in that way which is most proper for the perfection of the whole. Pardon
O
God
my temerity
If I have been so stupid as to blame anything in the
government of the world. I am more than ever convinced that all the plans of
thy providence
though they may appear extraordinary to my weak reason
are
replete with wisdom and goodness. Christopher Christian Sturm.
1750-1786.
Verse
19. O deliver not
etc. How weak soever the church be
and how
many and strong soever the enemy be
yet cannot they all devour the church
except the Lord should deliver his church over into their hands
against which
evil the church hath ground of confidence to pray
O deliver not the soul of
thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked; for he hath given his
church wings
and a hiding place too
as the comparison imports
if he please
to give her the use thereof also. David Dickson.
Verse
19. The people of God are taught in this form of supplication how to
edge and keen their prayers
and make them vigorous; to wit
by disclaiming any
ability or sufficiency in themselves; by styling themselves a congregation of
poor
silly
weak doves
no way able to encounter an army of bestial
cunning
crafty
bloody
boisterous enemies. This plea the people of God make use of:
"With thee the fatherless findeth mercy
"Ho 14:3. John Langley.
Verse
19. The soul of thy turtledove. They compare themselves to a
turtledove
whose nature leads it
in whatever way it may be afflicted
not to
indulge in noisy impatience
but to mourn in secret; so the afflicted people of
Israel were unable to do anything but breathe their sighs and groans to God. Musculus.
Verse
19. Thy turtledove. God's people are an harmless
innocent
people
altogether unable and insufficient to help themselves against their
enemies
who are numerous
cruel
and barbarous. Hence they are resembled to
sheep
doves; called in the Word
fatherless
orphans
little ones
babes
poor
simple
needy. They are men bound to their good behaviour
may not
harbour so much as a bad thought against any; are called to suffer
not to do
wrong. Julian did jeer at them for this; he would strike them on the one cheek
and tell them that their Master taught them to turn the other; his soldiers
would take away their cloaks
and mind them that they must part with their
coats also. Out of their own dispositions they judge of others
therefore may
easily be deceived and entrapped. Thus Gedaliah
that sweet man
would not
believe the relation of Johanan touching the conspiracy of the crocodile
Ishmael against him; nay
was even angry with him for his faithful dealing that
way
and it cost him his life. Jer 40:16
41. That famous admiral of France
Jasper Coligny
though he had information and intelligence from sundry parts
beyond the seas
that the court did intend to mischief him
and that there was
no security in their promises and agreements
though backed with oaths
thrust
himself
notwithstanding
upon the lion
and was smoothed with one paw and torn
with the other: being such
they lie open to the rage of many adversaries...
One would think these turtles should rather win the love of all that come near
them than incur the hatred of any
for they are quiet and peaceable persons. In
the mount of the Lord there is no hurt done (Isa 11:9)
yet
notwithstanding
they are maligned by a world of people. Because they are not like them (1Pe
4:4); because they are not of their number (Joh 15:19); because their persons
and their sacrifices are more acceptable with God than the others' (Ge 4:4);
because they reprove them for their evil ways (Joh 3:20); because they are for
the most part poor and mean
have no great forecast in worldly affairs
are no
deep politicians
they are such as those pauperes Lugdunensis
those
poor men of Lyons in France
therefore are exposed to beasts and lions (Mt
1:25); because they mourn for sin in themselves and others: they quarrel with
the dove even because of her mournful note. They will jeer at sighing sisters
and men that hang the head like a bulrush; yet
seeing this bulrush cannot grow
without mire and mud
why should it not hang the head? John Langley.
Verse
19. Thy turtledove. This expression may
perhaps
be further
illustrated from the custom
ancient and modern
of keeping doves as favourite
birds (see Theocritus v. 96
and Virgil Eclog. 3. v 68
69)
and
from the care taken to secure them from such animals as are dangerous to them. James
Merrick.
Verse
19. Turtle Doves
of whatever species they be
whether
travellers or domesticated
are equally preserved by the inhabitants of Egypt:
they do not kill
and never eat them. Wishing to know the motive of this
abstinence among people who possess so little in the greater part of their
action
I learnt that it was for the honour of humanity. It is a consequence of
the respect due to hospitality
which the Arabs hold in such high estimation
and of which they have communicated some shades to the people who dwell among them.
They would regard it as a violation of this hospitality not to spare those
birds
which come with a perfect confidence to live amongst them
and there to
become skilful but useless receptors of love and tenderness. The very farmer
who sees his harvest a prey for the flights of turtle doves which alight on his
fields
neither destroys nor harasses them
but suffers them to multiply in
tranquillity. C. N.S. de M. Sonnini. 1775-1811.
Verse
19. Forget not the congregation of thy poor. Thy poor
by way
of discrimination. There may be a greater distance between poor and poor
than
there is between poor and rich. There are many "ragged regiments
""congregations of poor
"whom the Lord will forget for ever;
but his poor shall be saved. And these poor are of two sorts; either
poor in regard of wealth and outward substance
or poor in regard of friends or
outward assistance. A rich man
especially a godly rich man
may be in a poor
case
destitute and forsaken
wanting patronage and protection. God saveth the poor
in both notions
both those that have no friends
and those that have no
estates. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
20. Have respect. The word
in the original signification of
it
imports a fastening of the eyes upon some object
that a man desires to
look into. Hence
by a metaphor
it is transferred to the eyes of the mind
and
signifies a serious weighing and consideration of a thing. God is said to
"wink at the times of ignorance
"or not to regard it
Ac 17:30.
God's people here look at God
as if he did wink at his covenant
and neither
look at it
nor them in their miseries. The psalmist desires him that he would
be mindful of it for his people's deliverance. Francis Taylor
in "A
Sermon preached before the House of Commons
" entitled "God's
Covenant the Churches Plea." 1645.
Verse
20. Have respect unto the covenant. This presseth the Lord
more than the former; this is the close grappling
as it were
with him in the
words of Jacob: "I will not let thee go till thou hast blessed me."
This is the throwing out of the greatest sheet anchor in the tempest
for it
lays hold on God's faithfulness
and truth
and fatherly goodness. If they be
not in covenant with God
it may be charged upon them.—"You have violated
my holy law
you have incensed my wrath against you by your perverse ways
therefore I will not help you
but give you up; "but now the souls that be
in covenant with God will not be put off so (be it spoken with holy reverence)
but will cry out
O Lord
though our iniquities testify against us
yet have
respect unto thy covenant. Yet be sure you walk uprightly before the
Lord...With what face can any one say
Lord
have respect unto thy covenant
when he casts his own covenant behind his back
and cannot say with the prophet
David
"I have a respect to all thy commandments"? How canst thou
say
"Deliver me not up to the many beasts without
"when thou art
not afraid to be delivered up to thy vile
bestial lusts and affections that
are within? Thou hypocrite
first labour the subduing of the monsters that are
within thee
then a fair way will be open to have thine enemies subdued round
about thee. John Langley.
Verse
20. Have respect unto the covenant. Those persons and
preachers who decline to think and speak of gospel mercies and free salvation
as secured by covenant
deprive themselves and others of much of the
blessed comforts of God's word. Such was not the manner of the inspired
psalmist. William S. Plumer.
Verse
20. God seems to his people to neglect his covenant
when they are
oppressed by ungodly men. So Asaph complains. After an acknowledgment that God
was the Shepherd of Israel
and so in covenant with his people
and accordingly
had wonderfully brought them out of Egypt
and made them flourish marvellously
in the land of Canaan
he attributes their misery to God's neglect. Many
reasons may be given of this unkind carriage of God's people to him. As
first
because their misery blinds them; and blind men when they are smitten suspect
every man that comes near them. Secondly
self love makes us suspect any rather
than ourselves
yea
even God himself. The people should have reflected upon
themselves that were innocent
but in their sorrows they reflect upon God that
was innocent. We are all Adam and Eve's children. When Eve had eaten of the
forbidden fruit
she tacitly lays the fault upon God: "The serpent
beguiled me
and I did eat." Ge 3:13. Hadst thou not made a subtil serpent
I had not broken thy commandment. Adam lays it openly upon God: "The woman
who thou gavest to be with me
she gave me of the tree
and I did eat." Ge
3:12. Hadst thou not given me such a companion to betray me
I had been
innocent. So we their posterity
when trouble is upon us
suspect God's
breaking covenant
rather than our own. Thus our nurses beat the stone when children
stumble through their own neglect. Thirdly
in time of need we most commonly
suspect such as are best able to help us. The sick man
if he be in danger of
death
suspects not his ignorant neighbours
but his skilful physician. He that
is oppressed in his estate
when the sentence goes against him
suspects none
more than the advocate
or the judge. We know God is best able to help us; our
corruption
therefore
makes us to suspect him most
if our troubles continue.
Fourthly
we most suspect those who
as we think
have most reason to help us
in our miseries
and do it not. If the servant wants meal or apparel
he
complains not of his fellow servants but of his master
who is tied by covenant
to provide for him; if the child be wronged by the servants
he lays not the
fault upon his brethren but upon his father
who by bands of nature is obliged
to take care of him. So we
being in covenant with God
wonder not much if
others fail us
but complain heavily if God seems to neglect us. Francis
Taylor.
Verse
20. The psalmist moves God in prayer to look to his covenant by this
argument: For the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of
cruelty; that is
of cruel men
or of men so full of cruelty
that they
deserve rather to be called cruelty than cruel: this sort of men inhabit
and fill up all those places where the light of holy truth doth not shine. Now
if they who want the light
or have no true knowledge of God among them
are
hereby prepared for the acting of all manner of wickedness
how much more are
they prepared for the acting of wickedness who have thrust the light from them
and are in dark places of their own making? The prophet Hosea shows (Ho 4:1)
that where there is no knowledge of God in a land
for want of means
there is
no truth nor mercy (that is
there is none exercised) in that land
but
oppression
deceit
and falsehood bear down all: how much more must it be so
when there is no knowledge of God in a land
because of the contempt of means
and rebellion against the light? What wickedness will not they do in the dark
who put out the candle that they may not see what they do? Joseph Caryl.
Verse
20. (second clause). This might have some literal meaning. The
dark places of the earth
some have thought
may here describe in the first
instance
the caves
the dens
and the woods of the land; for there are many
such (as travellers testify) in the land of Judaea
and in unsettled times they
have often been the abode of robbers and murderers
who have thence sallied
forth to molest and cut off the travellers
to ravish peaceful villages
to
waylay and plunder the merchant
to commit all sorts of crimes
and then to
return in impunity to these dark retreats
where they laugh at all law
human
or divine; they quaff
with horrid pleasure
the recollection of the widow's
tears
and listen with inhuman joy to the echoing remembrances of the orphan's
moan and the dying father's shriek. But what a land thus infested would be
is
but a faint image of the heathen world. Wherever heathenism spreads itself
there are the dark places of the earth. The Scripture often tells us
that. John Hambleton. 1839.
Verse
20. The dark places. An allusion
as sometimes interpreters
conceive
to the dens of wild beasts
wherein they hide themselves to seize
upon their prey
Ps 104:21-22. To these cruel men are compared. Ps 10:8-9.
"He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places
doth he murder the innocent. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he
lieth in wait to catch the poor." Such places oppressors and robbers
choose. Others take it for an allusion to prisons and dark dungeons void of
light. As the prophet
Isa 42:7
describes a prison: "To open the blind
eyes
to bring out the prisoners from the prison
and them that sit in darkness
out of the prison house." So trouble in Scripture is compared to darkness
and prosperity to light; because darkness is irksome
and light comfortable:
"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; "and
then the sorry hiding places whither God's people went to hide themselves are
here meant. Yet
could they not there be quiet
but were pursued
found out
and spoiled by their adversaries. Others take dark places for obscure
and mean places
as dark men
in the original
are called mean men
in our translation
Pr 22:29. And then it may either signify that the meanest
men did oppress God's people
or that the poorest and meanest of God's people
were not spared. Such usage have we found in our time
when the poor cottages
of our foes have sent out pillagers
and no cottagers of ours have escaped
spoiling in diverse places. Francis Taylor.
Verse
20. Cruelty. Heathenism is cruel. It is not changed in
character since the days when parents made their children to pass through fire
to Moloch. At this very day
for instance
infanticide prevails in China; and
the "law
"says a book of authority—"the law
otherwise so
rigorous
does not take the slightest cognisance of that crime
nor ever
subject those guilty of it to punishment. Every morning before it is light
waggons traverse the different quarters of the city of Pekin to receive the
dead infants." Well may they go "before it is light; ""the
dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty."
"The missionaries of that city obtained details
which justify belief that
the number of infants (chiefly females) destroyed there is upwards of three
thousand annually." Think of this same proportion
extended throughout
that densely peopled empire. Among the same people suicide is also of frequent
occurrence. What a contrast with the religion which stays the rash hand
and
calls out
"Do thyself no harm!" We might pass to India; and there
the flames of the funeral piles
on which so many widows were annually burnt
had hardly expired
when we were shocked
only a few years since
with other
proofs of the cruelty of heathenism. What painful details were those
which our
government brought to light respecting the secret murderers of India! What
think you of a vast fraternity of murderers
consisting of many thousands of
persons
which has existed from generation to generation
which has been
ramified over the whole country from Cape Comorin to the Himalayan mountains
which has flourished alike under Hindu
Mahometan
and British rulers
and which
has every year destroyed multitudes of victims—and all this under the sanction
of religion? The murderous system
they say
has been enjoined them by the
goddess Kalee
who is represented as having made a grant of half the human race
to her votaries
(to be murdered
that is) according to certain prescribed
forms. John Hambleton.
Verse
23. If we are compelled to close our most solemn and urgent
devotions
and our most earnest supplications
without seeing one ray of light
beaming upon our path
it may comfort us to remember that so the pious psalmist
closed this complaint. To hope against hope is the most blessed kind of hope. William
S. Plumer.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1.
1.
The divine displeasure a fact.
2.
It is but in measure
and we are very liable to exaggerate it.
3.
Even while it lasts our relation to him is unaffected: Sheep of thy pasture.
4.
Our business is to enquire the reason of it
and act accordingly.
Verse
1. (second clause). The Lord's anger with his people compared
to smoke.
1.
It is not a consuming fire.
2. It suggests fear of the fire.
3. It darkens the light of joy.
4. It blinds the eyes of faith.
5. It checks the breath of life.
6. It blackens the beauty of our worldly comforts.
Verse
2.
1.
The Lord's relation to his people.
(a)
Election.
(b) Redemption.
(c) Indwelling.
2.
The prayer arising from it: Remember.
Verse
3. Church mischief.
1.
The church has enemies.
2.
Wickedness in the church is their great weapon.
3.
This causes much desolation to weak saints
to enquirers
to peace
to prayer
to usefulness.
4.
The cure for it is God's interposition.
Verses
3-4. The power of prayer.
1.
On one side were
(a)
Desolation: perpetual
etc.
(b) Desecration.
(c) Declamation: enemies roar.
(d) Demonstration: they set up.
2.
On the other side is
(a)
Supplication.
(b) This brings God to the rescue effectually and quickly.
Verse
4. Ensigns for signs. The craft of Satan is supplanting truth
with deceptive counterfeits.
Verse
5. True fame. To build for God with labour
daring
diligence
skill
etc.
Verse
6. Vandal work against the truth of God.
Verses
6-7. Things feared by a church.
1.
Injury to her doctrines or ordinances: carved work.
2.
The fire of strife
division
etc.
3.
The defilement of sin. Either of these three will throw a church down; let her
guard and pray against them.
Verse
8. The destruction of rural churches
the aim of our enemies: the
injury they would so do
and our duty to prevent it: the means the destroyers
use: bribery
oppression
etc. Our proper method for sustaining such churches.
Verse
9. (first clause).
1.
There are such things as signs
that is
tokens and marks of God's
special favour to the soul.
2.
There is also a seeing those signs when God
the Holy Ghost
is pleased
to shine upon them.
3.
There is a third state
where there is not seeing the signs
those signs
being enveloped in darkness
dimness
and obscurity. J. C. Philpot.
Verse
10. A prayer for revival.
1.
How God is reproached.
2. What are the ill effects of it.
3. When we may expect him to arise.
Verse
11.
1.
The patience of God with man: He 'withdraws his hand
even
' etc.
he hesitates
to strike.
2.
The impatience of man with God: "pluck it
"etc. G. R.
Verse
12.
1.
The sovereignty of God.
2. Its antiquity.
3. Our loyalty to it.
4. The practical character of his reign: working.
5. The graciousness of it: working salvation.
6. The place of its operation: in the midst of the earth.
Verse
14. God's defeat of our enemies
and the benefit accruing to
ourselves.
Verse
15. The wonderful nature of gracious supplies
illustrated by the
smitten rock.
Verse
16. God present alike in all dispensations of providence.
Verses
16-17.
1.
The God of grace is the God of nature: The day in thine
etc.
2.
The God of nature is the God of grace: the wisdom
the power
the faithfulness
the same. See Psalm 19. G. R.
Verse
19. The soul of the believer compared to a turtledove.
Verse
20.
1.
The title given to heathen nations: dark places of the earth. Not
without the light of nature
or of reason
or of natural conscience
or of
philosophy
as of Greece and Rome; but without the light of revelation.
2.
Their condition: full of
etc.: cruelty in their public
social
and
private relationships. See Romans 1: "without natural affection
implacable
unmerciful."
3.
Their part in the covenant. This is known from their part in its promises
and
in prophecies: I will give thee the heathen
etc.
4.
The prayer of others on their behalf: Have respect
etc.; Oh send
forth thy light
etc.
The
conversion of the world will be in answer to the prayers of the church.
Verse
22. God pleading his own cause in providential visitations of nations
and individuals
as also in remarkable conversions and awakenings.
Verse
22.
1.
The glory of our cause: it is the Lord's own.
2.
The hope of our cause: he will plead it himself.
3.
The hope thus derivable from the violence of man: it will move the Lord to
arise.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》